


what makes you think i'm enjoying being led to the flood

by pedestrianatbest



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Setting, F/M, Firefly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23960338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pedestrianatbest/pseuds/pedestrianatbest
Summary: “We have a problem.” Bellamy announces once Murphy has joined the rest of the team in the kitchen.“Do we ever not have a problem?” Raven asks.“Clarke, the stowaway, she’s a fugitive.” Bellamy says and when Jasper snorts he turns to glare at him.“Sorry, sorry!” he repeats louder when Monty elbows him. “It’s just...are we not also fugitives?”“Technically only Murphy is.” Raven grins and Murphy balls up the napkin in front of him and tosses it at her.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, John Murphy/Raven Reyes, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	what makes you think i'm enjoying being led to the flood

_Earth-That-Was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new solar system: dozens of planets and hundreds of moons - many of them we terraformed, a process taking decades, to support human life. To be new Earths. The central planets were the first settled and are the most advanced, embodying civilization at its peak. Life on the outer rim is much more primitive and difficult. That’s why the central planets formed the ARK, so everyone can enjoy the comfort and enlightenment of true civilization._

The class three firefly ship is called Icarus and it doesn’t land on Persephone so much as crash in a controlled manner.

“I don’t understand why you’re even using a copilot for this.” Bellamy says gesturing to Monty as he stares at the controls over Jasper’s shoulders. “Persephone’s atmosphere is smoother than half the planets out there. I could land this ship.” Even Monty laughs at that but it’s short lived as the ship jerks violently once more as they descend through the atmosphere.

“I told you last month that those gravity stabilizers wouldn’t hold another week and - shit -“ the ship dropped suddenly “that was before your engineer decided she needed to use the gravity stabilizers for something other than - shit - stabilizing gravity so I need Monty to manually - _shit_!” Jasper says once more and Bellamy doesn’t know if the pilot can tell that he doesn’t understand what he’s saying or if he’s too focused on the controls to keep talking. Either way he can tell the conversation’s over so he leaves the cockpit for the engine room to see if he can yell at Raven instead. 

“Are they joyriding?” Murphy asks, coming out of his bunk as Bellamy passes him in the hallway and Bellamy doesn’t stop but gives an exasperated shake of the head, he’s barely made it to the door of the engine room before Raven starts yelling at him.

“If you’re here because Jasper is bitching about me repurposing the gravity stabilizers you can shove it, Bellamy!” Raven’s talking more to herself than him as she goes around the room screwing things in, checking gauges, and adjusting pressure levels like there’s a method to her madness. “I can’t keep a ship made out of nothing flying and all you give me is nothing. I use a part to fix a problem, but then the use of that part causes another problem, so I siphon another part which guess what? Causes more problems.” 

“The past couple weeks have been slow,” Bellamy admits like it pains him, “but we’re about to make five thousand credits on this job with Anya and I promise I’ll spend half that on new parts.”

“Bellamy, you could be the chancellor himself and you wouldn’t have enough credits to fix this ship.” Raven says, finally looking at him.

“We don’t need perfection, we’ve just got to be able to keep flying.” Bellamy knocks on the door of the engine room and turns back to the cargo bay.

“Flying for what?” Raven shouts after him.

When they land on Persephone, Bellamy begins pulling the cargo to the front airlock of the ship.

“We’re in dock six.” Jasper’s voice crackles over the intercom. “I called Anya, she said she’ll be here in a few.” Bellamy takes a break from stacking boxes to grab the nearest communicator of the wall.

“Thanks, Jasper. Murphy, get your ass to the cargo bay.”

“I’m already here.” Murphy says taking the steps two at a time from the upstairs deck. “This stuff really worth five thousand?” He asks pulling the last of the box from where they’d stored it against the back wall.

“Anya will pay five thousand.” Bellamy answers.

“I thought we weren’t working with Anya anymore.” Murphy grumbles fixing up the boxes.

“I wouldn’t turn down five thousand credits from anyone.” Bellamy says checking his gun in his holster before opening the airlock. The gangway slams down on the dusty ground of Persephone with a bang. “You’ll stay back, guard the cargo. Please,” he turns back to face Murphy, “please let me do the talking.”

“I always let you do the talking.” Murphy shoots at him and Bellamy shakes his head, not even bothering to respond. He steps off the ship and onto the ground, looking both ways to try and spot Anya or any of her men. He’s only taken a few steps out into the street before someone speaks to him.

“You taking on passengers?” Bellamy turns to find a blonde girl, standing so close to him that their toes are practically touching.

“No.” He answers shortly, taking a step backwards. She doesn’t move away but keeps her gaze fixed on him.

“I can pay.” She offers and he shakes his head again.

“We aren’t a transport ship. Miller’s docked a couple rows over, he gets people where they need to go.” Bellamy’s barely finished the sentence when he hears his name being shouted and he turns to see Raven in front of the ship, pointing off down the road where, sure enough, Anya’s hovercraft is inching through the crowd of people. He walks back to the ship, not waiting for a response from the girl.

“Surprised I’m the one you called to offload your cargo.” Anya says in lieu of any greeting.

“I respect your head for business.” Bellamy smiles and leads her onto the ship.

“Well, not all of us can be so charming.” She says, stoic as ever. Bellamy pretends not to hear Raven snort.

“Here you have it.” He gestures to the boxes Murphy is sitting on top of, gun drawn casually and resting in his lap. “Enough medical supplies to last you three years.”

“Provided we get through this year.” Anya muses walking towards Murphy and pulling out a knife, he grips his gun tighter but she smiles at him, one of the rare times Bellamy has seen her smile, and uses the knife to open the box on the ground next to him. Her guards advance forward with her, filling the entry to the cargo bay.

Raven leans against entryway release, one foot on the ship and one foot on Persephone. Anya opens a box and sticks her hand in, running it over the individually wrapped syringes and the vials of medicine.

“Yes, this is something we can work with.” She says staring at it. She turns back to nod at one of her guards who pulls out a bag from his coat pocket and tosses it to Bellamy who catches it. “Two hundred gold pieces. Equivalent to five thousand credits.”

“Always a pleasure doing business with you.” Bellamy says, trying not to let his grin become too wide. He chances a glance at Raven and she’s practically beaming.

“Let’s get these boxes out of here.” Anya nods to her men who immediately move to begin loading the hovercraft that waits at the entrance of Bellamy’s ship.

“Any news on Octavia?” Bellamy asks with a casual tone, but his refusal to look Anya in the face betrays the serious nature of his question.

“Haven’t heard from her in weeks.” Anya says observing her men as they pack the hovercraft full. “Things on the outer rims have been busy as of late.” Bellamy doesn’t say anything further and just as her men are loading the last box on the hovercraft Jasper’s voice rings out on the intercom.

“We got an alert on the cortex, federal agents, sent from the ARK.” Only seconds pass before they hear the emergency vehicle alarms and weapons are drawn instinctively. Raven points her pistol at one of Anya’s men who turns his gun on her. Both Bellamy and Murphy point their guns at Anya while she and her three remaining guards keep their guns trained steadily on Bellamy.

“You call the feds on me, Blake?” Anya asks, staring him down.

“You know I wouldn’t do that.” He says, and lowers his gun, holding his hands up in a defensive pose. “Let’s just all clear out, fast as we can. Coincidences happen.”

“No, they don’t.” She keeps her gaze and her gun fixed steadily on Bellamy for a second longer before she speaks. “Our business is through. Don’t contact me again.” She lowers her weapon and strides out to her hovercraft, her men follow behind her, walking backwards and keeping their guns on Murphy, who has his gun pointed at them still, and Bellamy, whose gun hangs down by his side. Both advance as the men do, coming to stand with Raven at the entrance to the ship.

As soon as Anya’s group is loaded in the hovercraft they depart down the newly cleared street and the dust that’s kicked up by their machine obscures the street briefly.

“Who do you think called the feds on - “ Raven starts to ask but before she can get the sentence out a team of agents rushes into the street in front of them, guns pointed at Icarus and at Bellamy, Murphy, and Raven.

“Freeze, now!” They shout and Raven jumps but doesn’t drop her gun. 

“Wait a second,” Bellamy steps forward, “we haven’t done anything, we’re a transport vessel, all our papers are in order, just give us a moment to pull them up.”

“Drop your guns, now!” Someone shouts and Bellamy clenches his jaw but tosses his gun to the side in acquiescence.

“Can we all just calm down,” Bellamy grits out, “and can you say why you’re here?”

“On the ground, now!” One of the men steps forward out of the mass of agents.

“Bellamy.” Raven says quietly. 

“You can’t just arrest people without cause.” Bellamy persists. There’s a scuffle among the agents, some of them pressing their fingers to their earpieces as though trying to make sure they’re hearing correctly. Then the shooting starts.

“Down!” Murphy yells and he grabs Raven slamming her to the floor of the gangway as bullets are shot over their heads inside the ship. 

“I can cover you, pull back!” Bellamy shouts, taking cover in one of the crevices of the airlock. With difficulty, Murphy and Raven pull back into the cargo bay from the airlock and take shelter against one of the walls.

“Why are they shooting us?” Murphy yells at Bellamy but he doesn’t respond as he backs up into the cargo bay and reaches for the communicator.

“Shut the airlock, Jasper, take off, now!” 

“We can’t shut it from up here!” Jasper’s voice sounds throughout the entire cargo bay and when Bellamy glances at Raven he sees more than hears her yelling something about the extenders not being braced and he vaguely recalls a conversation where he had told her Jasper didn’t need to be able to open the airlock from the cockpit so he didn’t need to give her credits to fix the parts.

“Cover me!” He yells at Murphy who grits his teeth in something that looks almost like pain and falls to his knees next to the wall he and Raven had been hiding behind. As Murphy lets loose as much gunfire as can Bellamy darts forward, not even attempting to dodge the bullets or cover himself with his own gunfire and reaches for the release that will shut the airlock. He slams himself as tightly as he can against the wall of the ship as the gangway begins to creak closed. When it finally shuts its Monty’s voice that comes once more over the speaker this time.

“Clear for takeoff.” The ship jolts as the engine goes to work and Bellamy falls to his knees. Murphy, who hadn’t stood up after Bellamy shut the airlock, falls face forward onto the ground.

“You guys okay?” Jasper yells from the walkway on the second deck that overlooks the cargo bay. “Murphy, get up off the floor.”

“Couldn’t have come down here sooner?” Bellamy shouts back at him.

Bellamy stands and circles his shoulder trying to work through the pain he got when he slammed into the side of the ship to shut the airlock. He glances around the cargo bay to make sure everything’s in its place and just as Raven shouts “Murphy’s been hit!” Bellamy notices a blonde head of hair hiding underneath the stairs 

“Get out!” He pulls an extra pistol from the waistband of his pants and points it steadily at the bundle of clothes hiding under the stairs. “Out! Now!”

“Bellamy, Murphy’s hit!” Raven repeats but he ignores her.

The girl who’d asked for a ride on Persephone slides out from under the staircase, hands raised above her head. Her posture is steady and she doesn’t look nervous even with the gun pointed at her face.

“Jasper, help Raven get him to the infirmary.” Bellamy says never taking his eyes off the girl. “I told you this wasn’t a passenger ship, princess.” 

“I’m not here to be a passenger.” The girl says, and her voice is biting, cruel even, nothing like the tone she’d used on the surface of Persephone. She steps closer to him, into the middle of the cargo bay and away from the stairs. “I need help.”

“We aren’t a charity.” 

Murphy groans in pain as Jasper and Raven pick him up between him and wrapping their arms around his waist. The girl’s gaze snaps to them but Bellamy’s stays even on her and that’s how he manages to kick out her feet from under her and knock her flat on her back.

“Get him to the infirmary, Jasper.” Bellamy repeats, grabbing the girl by the back of her jacket and yanking her back towards the airlock. She stumbles as she stands but somehow manages to twist out of his grip and he’s left standing with her jacket in his hands and her in front of him, holding out her hands in a placating manner. 

“I need to be on your ship.”

“If you think we’re doing anything but dumping you on the next moon we pass - ”

“You don’t understand,” she cuts him off, “I need to be on your ship.” Bellamy brings his gun up again to keep it level at her. “The feds - they weren’t after you, okay? They were here because of me.”

“You think that’s a reason for me to keep you?” Bellamy says incredulously. “Keep talking and I’ll get my pilot to turn us back to Persephone, turn you in myself.”

“I need to be on your ship.” She’s pleading now, desperation creeping into her tone and Bellamy tenses his jaw. “I’m a doctor.” She says suddenly pointing back towards Jasper, Murphy, and Raven. “I’m a doctor. I can fix him.”

Bellamy keeps his gun trained on her but glances over her shoulder to see Raven nod.

“Fine. Go.” He says gun pointing at her, “Follow them, I’m right behind you.”

Jasper and Raven have just gotten Murphy on the operating table by the time Bellamy arrives with the girl.

“What’s the stowaway doing here?” Jasper asks as Raven uses a pair of scissors to cut Murphy’s shirt off around the gunshot in his shoulder.

“Says she’s a doctor.” Bellamy’s voice is harsh and still he has his finger on the trigger of his gun and while he has it pointed at the girl his grip is slack.

“So we’re just gonna let a stranger cut me open?” Murphy groans as the girl turns to the drawers against the wall, opening and closing them, trying to familiarize herself with the infirmary. She grabs a wrapped syringe and drops it on the counter. She then pulls out a tray of vials and starts reading the labels, when she finally finds what she’s looking she opens the syringe and stabs it into the vial, she grabs Murphy’s arm but just as she’s about to inject him he grabs her with his other hand, although his fingers begin slipping off her arm so Jasper grabs the girl’s wrist for him. “Bellamy,” Murphy slurs, “I don’t want a stranger cutting into me.”

“My name’s Clarke,” she says leaning in to look at him intently. “I was a resident doctor on Arcadia, the bullet went into your upper shoulder, probably hit the muscle which means I’m going to have to dig around in there with a scalpel.” She held the syringe in front of his face, “Do you want to be doped up for that or do you want to be awake?” Murphy looks at Bellamy, his face growing paler by the second

“If she kills me,” Murphy starts coughing, “you better shoot her.” Jasper lets go of Clarke’s wrist and she pulls Murphy’s arm out and injects him with the syringe.

“Can you manage this on your own?” Bellamy asks looking at Clarke. 

“Could use someone to hand me things.” She leans over Murphy’s torso inspecting the wound and pulling on a pair of latex gloves.

“Jasper, you help her.” Bellamy grabs Raven’s arm and pulls her out with him into the hallway. “You stay here.” Bellamy passes her his pistol. “Don’t shoot her unless you have to. And if you have to - aim for the leg, she’ll have to stich herself up.” Raven glances behind him through the glass doors into the infirmary. Clarke was pressing the scalpel into Murphy’s shoulder and Jasper was leaning over staring at the wound despite the fact he was turning a shade of green. 

“Where are you going?” Raven says when she notices Bellamy is already halfway down the hall.

“I’m gonna find out why the feds are shooting at a doctor from Arcadia.”

+

Murphy groans when he wakes up and immediately begins moving.

“Hey, slow down, slow down.” Clarke says reaching out for Murphy’s shoulders to keep him steady as he sits up from the table. “You should lay down.” She frowns as he reaches up with his right hand to trace over the wire of the stitches in his left shoulder.

“That’s not going to happen.” His voice is hoarser than he expected so he coughs a bit to try and clear it out but that just makes it worse.

“Here.” Clarke hands him a glass of water and he drinks it as fast as he can and hands her the empty cup.

“Thanks.” He says looking around the infirmary. “They left you in here with me?” He sounds incensed and Clarke has to prevent a smile.

“The mechanic, Raven, Jasper said her name was? She had to go do...something. So Jasper took over her guard post in the hall.”

“In the hall.” Murphy snorts. “Of course.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you after I just healed you.” Clarke says leaning in to inspect the stiches. Murphy doesn’t respond and she glances up at him. “I saw the way you took that bullet for Raven.” She says after a moment, pulling a bottle of antiseptic off the counter. 

“I didn’t take a bullet for her.” Murphy snaps almost immediately.

“If you say so.” Clarke agrees easily, pouring the antiseptic over a towel and dabbing at the stiches. Murphy inhales sharply and brings his hand up to his mouth to bite down on his knuckle.

“You’re really a doctor then?” Murphy asks, hand still in his mouth.

“In training.” Clarke rolls out gauze over the wound and wraps it around his shoulder. 

“Figures,” Murphy mutters, “we finally get a doctor and she’s not even a real one.” Clarke ties off the gauze and pats him on the shoulder.

“Still managed to fix you up.”

“You ready to talk?” Bellamy asks from the doorway. Clarke starts, since she hadn’t heard him come in, but Murphy doesn’t react and she wonders how long he’d been standing there. 

“Depends.” She turns to face him. “What course is your pilot set on?”

“No course, we’re just floating.” Bellamy says and she nods, taking off her gloves and dumping them in the trash.

“We can talk then.”

“Come on.” He jerks his head towards the hallway; before Clarke follows him she turns back to Murphy.

“You’ll tear your stitches if you move too much. And the sedative is probably still in your system so don’t try to walk.” 

“’Course not, doc.” He smiles at her but that does nothing to make Clarke feel better and sure enough when she and Bellamy pass Jasper in the hall they hear a loud crash from back inside the infirmary.

“Jasper, go help him.” Bellamy sighs. Jasper nods and gets off the couch, heading back towards the infirmary as Bellamy leads Clarke down the hall towards the extra dorms. He enters a keycode to unlock the door and steps aside to let her enter first. “Take a seat.” He gestures at the table and chairs pressed against the corner of the room across from the bed and she pulls out a chair carefully and sits down, crossing her arms on the table and looking around the room.

“Pretty nice for a cell.” 

“You said your name was Clarke?” He asks, ignoring her comment and leaning against the wall across from her.

“Yes.” She doesn’t offer anything further so he prompts her again. 

“What’s your last name?” 

“I’m pretty sure you already know.” The hint of a smile appears on her face but it’s gone before Bellamy can catch it.

“There’s nothing on the cortex about a Clarke from Arcadia. No missing person reports, no arrest warrants, nothing. Which is odd but not unprecedented. So I had my pilot - “

“I thought Jasper was the pilot.” Clarke cut him off.

“Jasper’s one of the pilots.” Bellamy says, brushing over the uncomfortable feeling her already being familiar with the crew brings up in him. “Monty’s my other one, I had him run a check for Clarkes on Arcadia. Uncommon name, still difficult to find, but when we cross referenced Clarke, Arcadia and medical school we got one result.” Clarke looks up at him holding his gaze steady. “Griffin.” She doesn’t say anything. “Clarke Griffin. Daughter of Councilwoman Abigail Griffin and Jake Griffin who until two weeks ago was the ARK’s lead terraforming expert before he was executed for - “

“You can stop.” She cuts him off again and Bellamy waits for her to say something more and when she doesn’t he prompts her.

“Why are the feds after you?”

“I ran away.” 

“Feds don’t go after runaways.” Clarke bit the inside of her cheek and inhaled deeply.

“Two weeks ago my dad,” Bellamy looks away so he wouldn’t have to witness the stark emotion present on her face when she spoke that word, “my dad,” she repeats trying to stabilize her tone, “two weeks he told me the Council was passing some new legislation. Something to do with the grounders, something he didn’t agree with. A week later he was executed.” Bellamy waits for her to speak again but she doesn’t.

“That’s it?” He asks finally.

“What do you mean that’s it?” She retorts. “My father tried to warn me, tried to tell me the council was going to do something, something horrible and now he’s dead.”

“So you ran away.” Bellamy supplies.

“Yes.” She says exasperated. “And the feds are following me because I was right, because something’s happening or did happen or is going to happen and they know I can figure it out.”

“And how exactly do you plan on figuring this - whatever this is - out?”

“I have to get to one of my dad’s offices, the last one he was in. There’ll be a message there, I know there will.”

“So you don’t even know if there’s a message?” Bellamy clarifies. “You don’t even know if he left you anything?” 

“He must have.” The pause before Clarke speaks is long enough for Bellamy to guess she’s keeping something from him but he doesn’t press it. He falls silent this time, and waits for her to be the next one to speak. “I didn’t pick your ship randomly. I was looking for you.”

“How did you know who I am?” Bellamy asks. “Actually who do you think I am because I’ve got a crappy ship and honestly a pretty crappy crew, I don’t know why in the ‘verse we’d be your first pick for your made up conspiracy theory.”

“I didn’t pick you because of you.” Clarke retorts blowing past his other comments. “I picked you because of your sister.”

“You know Octavia?” His voice is hoarse.

“I’ve heard of her, she’s got a reputation. Even for a grounder.” Clarke tilts her head to the side. “I know she ran off about a year ago, joined up with them on the outer rim. The grounders have been pretty low action the past decade or so. Not the thorn in the ARK’s side they used to be. But they have a new commander now, I’m sure you’ve heard of her, they’re stepping things up. Smuggling, instigating fights with ARK guards, inciting riots on central planets, things like that.”

“I’m familiar with the grounder’s cause.” Bellamy snaps, Clarke gives him a look before continuing.

“Your sister, Octavia, she was arrested for inciting a riot on Phoenix two weeks ago. They transferred her to Weather.”

“Weather?” Bellamy repeats doubtfully. “Weather’s where they send treasonists and serial killers it’s the highest security planet in the system. They wouldn’t send a 20-year-old girl there for inciting a riot, even if she was a grounder.”

“For knowing so much about the grounders, you don’t really know that much.” Clarke snarks. “Two weeks ago all grounder activity and all association with grounders was redefined as a treasonist act so your sister is now officially a traitor to the ARK. Congratulations, really.” 

“And you stowed away on my ship to tell me this?” Bellamy says.

“I stowed away because my dad’s office, the one I need to get to, is on Weather. And you’re going to help me get there, because Octavia is also being held on Weather. And now that she’s officially a traitor, she’s going to be sentenced to death. So unless you want what happened to my father to happen to your sister, you’re going to help me.” Clarke speaks authoritatively, plainly, speaking each individual sentence as though it’s an order and she’s certain he’ll agree to everything she’ll say. Which, to be fair, she is.

“They’re going to execute her?” Bellamy says growing pale. “That’s not possible, I’m her family, I would’ve been notified if she was even arrested. And it’s nowhere on the cortex I have alerts set for Octavia, for Blake, for Octavia Blake, nothing about this has come through.”

“Once you commit treason your file’s classified.” Clarke looks away from him to give him some privacy in the moment. “There’s no way you’d know unless you had the clearance.”

“Arcadian logic for you.” He says his jaw clenched so tight his teeth don’t even come apart. “How do you know about this then, if it’s so classified?”

“My mother.” She doesn’t add an ‘obviously’ at the end of her sentence but it’s obvious from her tone that’s what she means. Bellamy pushes off the wall to pull out a chair from the table and sit across from her. He sets his gun on the table and puts his elbow down as well, resting his face in his hand. “I am sorry,” Clarke ventures. “That this happened to you. To her. But you have to understand,” she pleads, leaning forward with something like desperation in her eyes, “it’s the perfect coincidence. For both of us.”

“There aren’t any coincidences.” Bellamy says, his chin in his hand and talking through his fingers. “I can’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to trust me to believe me, Bellamy.” It’s only after Clarke’s said his name that he realizes he never told her what it is.

+

“We have a problem.” Bellamy announces once Murphy has joined the rest of the team in the kitchen, wincing and gripping at his shoulder as he slides down into a chair across from Raven.

“Do we ever not have a problem?” Raven asks.

“Clarke, the stowaway, she’s a fugitive.” Bellamy says and when Jasper snorts he turns to glare at him.

“Sorry, sorry!” he repeats louder when Monty elbows him. “It’s just...are we not also fugitives?”

“Technically only Murphy is.” Raven grins and Murphy balls up the napkin in front of him and tosses it at her.

“She has news on Octavia.” Bellamy continues ignoring the bickering.

“She knows Octavia?” Raven asks, suddenly interested. “How does she know Octavia?”

“She doesn’t, not really, but she has access to prison records and Octavia is a prisoner.” Bellamy pauses. “On Weather.”

“You only get sent to Weather if you commit treason.” Monty protests. “High treason.”

“All grounder activities are being classified as high treason. And,” Raven makes a sound of protest but Bellamy speaks over it. “And, once you’re declared a traitor, it’s only a matter of time before you get a death sentence.”

“A death sentence?” Jasper asks dumbfoundedly.

“That’s what Clarke says.” Bellamy says making a fist with his hand and rapping it on the table.

“Right, and why are we trusting the stowaway?” Murphy asks, raising a hand in the air. “Not that I’m not grateful she stitched me up but, stowaway’s aren’t exactly trustworthy.”

“Because you’re so trustworthy.” Monty says under his breath and Murphy kicks him under the table. 

“Murphy has a point, Bellamy.” Raven admits. “We have no idea who this girl is, she could be working for the ARK.”

“She could be.” Bellamy agrees. “But I don’t think she is.”

“Why?” Jasper asks.

“Her full name’s Clarke Griffin. She’s from Arcadia and her mom - “

“Griffin?” Monty cuts him off. “Did you say her last name was Griffin?”

“Like Abigail Griffin? Council member Abigail Griffin?” Raven asks and Bellamy nods.

“Isn’t that the one that executed her husband?” Jasper says looking around the table.

“She didn’t execute him, she ordered his execution.” Raven defends.

“What’s the difference?” Murphy asks and when no one responded he repeats it. “Seriously, what’s the difference?”

“She didn’t pull the trigger?” Monty says speculatively.

“But she signed the execution order. Like literally, I’m pretty sure it’s her signature on the order.” Jasper argues.

“The feds on Persephone were after her. After Clarke.” Bellamy says it in a rush to stop what he’s sure is about to be an oncoming barrage of protests. “That’s why I believe her. Her mom killed her dad, she ran away, mom sent the feds after her because she thinks she knows...something. She doesn’t have anything to lose, doesn’t have a reason to lie.” Everyone erupts.

“You’ve got your logic backwards, people without anything to lose have every reason to lie.” Murphy retorts. “If anything now she’s less trustworthy.

“The feds shot at us because of her?” This one from Raven.

“Why’d she even run?” Monty asks.

“Because her mom killed her dad, Monty, we covered this.” Jasper answers.

“I trust her.” Bellamy says speaking over all of them. “I believe her, and I believe that Octavia’s in trouble.”

“You said she doesn’t even know Octavia, why is she involved?”

“She needs to get on Weather. She found out who Octavia was, found me, and figured out our business,” Bellamy eked out the last word, “said she figured we’d be comfortable helping her break some laws.”

“How are we helping her break laws?” 

“Well, harboring a fugitive, that’s a crime there.” Monty points out.

“But it’s not as big as the crimes we usually commit.” Jasper says helpfully looking at Bellamy. “And we’re harboring Murphy already anyways.” Murphy glares at him. “So really it doesn’t count.”

“A prison breakout would count.” Bellamy says staring at the ground so that he doesn’t have to see the look of amusement on Murphy’s face and the look of exasperation on Raven’s.

“Prison breakout?” Jasper is the first one to speak. 

“Octavia’s in Weather.” Bellamy shrugs hopelessly. “It’s the only option.” No one speaks except Monty and Jasper who glance at each other. “Look, I’m not expecting anything.” Bellamy swallows. “You all have clean records - for the most part - Triumph is on the way. I'll drop you off and pick you up after. If I can.” He adds as an afterthought. “You don’t have to be involved.” Monty snickers and Jasper looks from him to Bellamy grinning.

“You really think you can navigate an atmospheric descent on a planet like Weather?” 

“Well - “

“We’re coming.” Raven answers for all of them. “Octavia’s part of the crew.”

“She ran off.”

“Still on the crew.” Raven shrugs and Bellamy closes his eyes. “I’ll go free the stowaway. Give her a tour.” Raven stands, resting her hand on Bellamy’s shoulder and squeezing it slightly before leaving the kitchen. 

“We’ll set a course for Weather.” Jasper and Monty leave after Raven and then it’s just Murphy and Bellamy left in the kitchen, the former still sitting at the table and the latter leaning against the wall.

“Why does she want to get to Weather so bad?” Murphy asks and Bellamy looks at him.

“She thinks...” He trails off and tries to come up with the most logical way to present her motive, “Her dad told her the Council had a new policy, something to do with the grounders or the outer rims, he told her he didn’t agree with it and a week later he was dead. She smells conspiracy, steals a ship, runs off Arcadia.” Murphy stares at him.

“Must have a pretty good sense of smell considering she just ruined her life.” He says finally. 

“That’s not my problem.” Bellamy leaves to follow Monty and Jasper to the cockpit.

“Not yet!” Murphy calls after him.

+

There’s a knock on the door of Clarke’s room and she looks up from where she’d been laying on the bed, a few seconds later the door slides open and Raven enters.

“Figured it was you.” Clarke smiles, more to herself than to Raven. “A man wouldn’t have knocked.”

“You’re not wrong.” She leans against the doorway and sticks out a hand. “We haven’t met, Raven Reyes. I’m the mechanic.”

“Clarke Griffin.” She stands from her seat on the bed to grasp Raven’s hand in her own. “So if you’re here, I take it Bellamy told the crew?”

“That he did.” Raven nods. “Can’t say I ever thought I’d help break into a prison. Let alone Weather.”

“Everyone agreed?” 

“You sound shocked.” Raven remarks and Clarke shrugs.

“I’ve had a streak of bad luck lately. Been trying not to get my hopes up.” 

“Come on.” Raven jerks her head towards the hallway. “I’ll give you the grand tour. Although, it’s really just a tour. It’s not that big of a ship.” Clarke stands and follows Raven into the hallway. “You’ll be staying down here,” Raven gestures to the hallway. “It’s supposed to be the passenger area but we never have passengers so it’s mostly storage. Infirmary is down the hall on the way to the cargo bay. Have you ever been on a ship on this small?”

“A few shuttles.” Clarke says after a moment. “We use the shuttles to jump around the central planets but whenever I left a central system it’d usually be on a cruise liner.” Raven whistles.

“Those things are massive. The biggest ones can carry fifteen thousand, right?”

“Yeah.” Raven looks at Clarke out of the corner of her eye and continues down the hall past the infirmary and into the cargo bay.

“You know this.” Raven gestures around back through the cargo bay and then points down the hall, “there’s the bridge, with our rooms, and then there’s the cockpit. Second floor is the engine room, kitchen, and well, it’s not really an observation deck so much as a window at the end of the hallway but it’s a nice place to relax.” Raven doesn’t move anywhere else and stays in the cargo bay looking at Clarke.

“And I’m not allowed by the cockpit am I?” Clarke asks. 

“Bellamy didn’t say no but if you go in he’ll probably throw you out.” Raven doesn’t move and Clarke turns slowly in the cargo bay.

“Is there something you want to say to me?” She says finally when Raven has made no indication of moving or saying anything further. 

“I met your mother, once.” Clarke freezes. “I grew up on Shadow, she was out there for some speech on unification. Her ship broke down, thermal couplings just completely disintegrated. It was a fancy boat and Shadow’s...not, so we didn’t have the right parts. She got stuck on the planet for a week while we waited for the part to arrive. My boss was the one working on her ship and he took me with him whenever he went, said I needed the good influence.” Raven pauses to give Clarke a chance to say something and when she doesn’t presses on. “We spoke a few times, she was so...driven, articulate. Asked me what I was interested in, what my plans were. I’d never met anyone like that before.” Raven pauses, scuffing one shoe against the other. “Haven’t met anyone like that since. She didn’t give me life changing advice or anything but, she was impressive. Kind.”

“I know someone else who grew up on Shadow.” Clarke says and Raven waits but she doesn’t say anything else. 

“I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. For what happened.” Raven lingers for a moment before stepping towards the stairs. “Come on, I’ll show you the cockpit.”

+

“You have the course set for Weather?” Bellamy asks when he enters the cockpit, standing behind Jasper and looking out the window into space.

“Fourteen hours.” Jasper nods. “It’d be faster if we didn’t have to avoid shipping lanes but since the feds shot at us on Persephone they clearly clocked her on our ship.”

“There’s nothing on the cortex though.” Monty says from his copilot’s seat. “No mention of us or Icarus.”

“And still nothing on her?” Bellamy asks. 

“Nothing.” Monty pulls something up on his tablet and passes it to him. “There is council news though. Apparently they called an emergency meeting next week on Phoenix, won’t say what it’s about yet but there’s chatter.”

“They’re waiting a week?” Bellamy asks eyes scanning over the report. 

“Jaha’s on Osiris, service trip.” Jasper spins in his chair to face Bellamy. 

“And if they’re waiting for him to get back so they can have the meeting in person instead of just doing it on hologram that means they’re worried about security.” Monty says. 

“Which means it’s highly classified.” Jasper adds. 

“Think it has to do with Clarke’s conspiracy?” Bellamy asks and Monty shrugs. 

“It’s not proof but it doesn’t hurt.” 

“Hey guys.” Jasper says suddenly and Bellamy turns to see Raven entering the cockpit from the bridge with Clarke right behind her. 

“I’m Monty.” He stands and sticks out a hand to Clarke smiling. “I’m the copilot.”

“And gardener.” Murphy says from behind Clarke and she jumps. “Touchy, aren’t you?” He says bumping into her with his good shoulder as he walks past to lean against Monty’s dashboard. 

“Did you do that sling yourself?” Clarke asks. Murphy nods. “I can tell.” He smiles at that. 

“I was going to take Clarke down to the observation room.” Raven says but Bellamy shakes his head. 

“You take Monty, get to the engine room and make sure this ship won’t fall apart when we enter Weather’s atmosphere.” 

“Tall order, Bellamy.” Murphy snorts.

“Is it really in that bad of shape?” Clarke asks, looking more worried now than when Bellamy had a gun to her face.

“C’mon,” Bellamy jerked his head back towards the bridge. “I’ll finish the tour.” Clarke walks out of the cockpit into the bridge and Bellamy strides past her and leads the way through the bridge. He doesn’t say anything as they go up a set of stairs and pass what Clarke is assuming the engine room as she can hear Monty and Raven’s voices, they continue down a hallway and into the kitchen. “You hungry?” He adds as an afterthought. 

“Yes.” Clarke’s immediate answer makes him think of Octavia and he grins, turning towards one of the cabinets. 

“All we’ve got are protein bars,” he says over his shoulder pulling out a box and tossing her one. He pours her a glass of water and by the time he’s turned back to face her she’s already finished. “When was the last time you ate?” He asks handing her the water and pulling another protein bar from the box, waiting for her to finish the water before trading it with her for the empty glass.

“Breakfast on Arcadia. Two days ago.” She says unwrapping the protein bar and taking a big bite.

“Did you not bring any food with you when you ran?”

“I didn’t have time to grab anything.” Clarke says and Bellamy pulls another protein bar from the box.

“Wait before you eat this one,” He says holding it back briefly before putting it in her hand, “you’ll make yourself sick.” 

“Okay, doctor.” Her tone is mocking but she slides the protein bar in her jacket pocket.

“You said you stole a ship to get off Arcadia.” Bellamy prompts and Clarke nods.

“My mom has a short range shuttle she uses for the central planets.” Clarke fiddles with the zipper on her jacket. “I had been on her computer, trying to get information and she had been planning on going to Phoenix so the ship was all prepped, I didn’t know when I’d next get a shot so I just...took it.”

“You couldn’t have made it from Arcadia to Persephone in a short range ship.” 

“I didn’t, I switched to a passenger ship on Iphigenia.” 

“Stowaway on that one too?” His voice sounds like he’s smiling but when Clarke looks at him he’s stoic as ever.

“Yes.” Clarke confesses. “Much easier to get away with it when the ship’s got a manifest of seven hundred though.” 

Bellamy nods and pushes off the counter. “C’mon. I’ll take you by the observation deck then we should get you to your bunk so you can sleep.”

“Are you going to lock me in?” She asks following him into another hallway.

“Probably.” He admits leading her towards the end of the hallway where instead of a wall there’s a window showing the blackness of space. “This is it. Not much but it’s a good break from the steel.”

“Oh.” Clarke says stepping forward and she sounds genuinely impressed. “I’ve never been so far out, usually there’s always a moon or star in sight, you know?” She turns back to look at him but he’s staring over her shoulder into space as well.

“It’s a different sort of blackness out here.” Bellamy speaks slowly, as though he’s speaking to himself more than to Clarke. “In the outer rim especially, you look out and...” He trails off.

“Have you ever been to the central planets?” Clarke asks. She looks at him when he doesn’t answer but he’s still staring through the window. “On Arcadia there’s three different moons. Only Virgil is habitable, but every day when you walk outside you see all three of them just filling up the sky.” She’s smiling wistfully and Bellamy doesn’t have to look at her to know that. “I used to think it was suffocating, not being able to see past them. But then I went to school on Phoenix, they have a completely empty horizon and it was so...lonely.” They’re silent for another minute before Clarke speaks again. “When I finished school I wanted to get my own ship. Put a clinic on it and travel to different planets, different moons. I never liked the flying part,” she broke off in a laugh, “but I wanted to see different places. Meet different people.” She falls silent and Bellamy waits a few minutes before a question occurs to him.

“And you gave all that up because you think your father left you a secret key that will unlock some massive government conspiracy?” 

“Yes.” Clarke sounds so sure of herself, so absolutely positive she’s right, he’s almost uncomfortable.

“Sounds reckless.”

“It’s not reckless,” she says it immediately, as though she’s already had this exact thought in her head and has discounted it. “It’s a calculated risk. A risk that’s paid off, by the way, they wouldn’t have put the feds on me if they didn’t think I was onto something.”

“Sounds like your tempting fate.” 

“The guy who named his ship Icarus wants to talk to me about tempting fate?” Clarke turns to him trying to fight back a smile. 

“You noticed that did you?” Bellamy’s smiling but he’s still looking into space. 

“How could I not,” Clarke snorts, “it’s how I tracked you. By the way, that mural you have painted all over the side of your ship is absolutely horrific.”

“My sister did that.” Clarke doesn’t say anything but Bellamy hears the hitch in her breathing. “It’s okay, she knew it was crap, she liked it that way.” He swallows

“I’m sure she’s okay.” Clarke says reaching out and letting her hand hover awkwardly over his arm before letting her fingertips slowly rest on his forearm. “Seriously, if they were going to torture her,” Bellamy coughs and Clarke plows on, “if they were going to torture her, they wouldn’t have sent her to Weather, she’d be at a black site. Weather means records, even if they aren’t public, and records means it’s above board.” 

“You think?” 

“That’s how it works.” She says simply, trying to ignore how young and vulnerable he sounds. “It’s protocol.”

“Thank you.” He says after a moment. “Although, your bedside manner could use some work.” Clarke laughs and takes her hand off his arm. They turn around and Bellamy leads Clarke back to her room. “I’ll come get you in six hours or so, we’ll have to plan things out.” She nods and looks at him like she wants to say something but instead shuts her door. Bellamy clenches his fist above the keypad before he types out the code locking her door.

+

When they’re five hours away from Weather Bellamy gathers everyone in the kitchen.

“Are we sure we should go through with this now?” Raven asks as they all take seats around the table. “I mean, yesterday we were selling supplies to Anya and today we’re breaking into a prison. Murphy just got shot,” she gestures to him, “and we barely have a plan. If we give it a week, hell if we give it a couple of days, Miller’s on Persephone he could catch up to us.”

“I don’t want anyone else involved.” Bellamy shakes his head.

“And even if we wanted to, we don’t have that kind of time.” Clarke adds. “We’ll be lucky if the feds don’t catch up to us as it is.”

“There aren’t any bulletins about us on the cortex yet, so maybe they aren’t looking for us.” Monty looks around at the table.

“They fired on us at Perspehone, they know the ship name, know the manifest, they probably know who all of us are at this point.” Bellamy glances at Clarke. “They aren’t publishing warrants because they don’t want anyone to ask why they’re looking for us which means if they capture us it’ll be off the books which means - “

“Torture.” Murphy cuts him off. “Of course it does.”

“So the plan is what, exactly?” Monty asks. “Crash on Weather and just hit them until we find Octavia?”

“Clarke has a map of the holding area as well as where her father’s office is. We get Octavia, we get Clarke to her father’s office, we get out.”

“That’s it?” Raven asks, staring them eyebrows high on her forehead. “We attack a whole planet?” Clarke pulls her communicator off her wrist and presses a button so the schematics of Weather project in a hologram in front of them. She tosses the communicator on the table so the hologram hovers above all them.

“What you have to understand,” she starts with, “is that Weather isn’t a planet in the way we think of them. It’s not habitable, the terraform process was done completely wrong, you can’t breathe on the surface, you can’t even step out on the surface, it’s covered by this acidic fog that eats at your skin.”

“Tasty.” Murphy interjects and Bellamy scuffs him across the back of the head.

“Because of that,” Clarke continues on, “everything’s underground, in bunkers. We land here,” she pulls up a separate map of bunkers on the hologram and points to a hangar, “it’ll be tricky to get in, we can give them an access code so that they open the hangar but once we land they’ll know pretty much immediately we aren’t supposed to be there.”

“So then what?” Jasper asks.

“Right off the hangar, there’s the electrical room. We cut the power not just for the system, but for the generators too. The backup generators will come on eventually, but the emergency protocol will override them. Emergency protocol forces open all the doors. Including the cells, which is how we’ll get Octavia.” 

“Monty, Raven,” Bellamy looks at them, “you’ll be in charge of that.”

“The rest of us will cross over to where my father’s office is,” Bellamy’s eyes narrow and Clarke notices but she ignores him. “I visited my father,” Clarke’s voice cracks as she continues, “I visited my father’s office on Weather only once but I double checked the blueprints. It should be here,” she gestures to a part of the schematics. “We can take a shortcut across the bridge in the hangar. I’ll only need five minutes in there.”

“What exactly are the guards doing during all of this?” Murphy asks, raising his hand. “Playing cards?”

“That’s why we have to cut the power first. Once the cells are released and all the prisoners are loose, they’ll have their hands full. After my father’s office, we head over here.” She spins the hologram. “According to the last document I saw, this is where she’s being held. We get Octavia and slip over here.” She pulls up another schematic. “There’s a stairwell right across, we take that to the groundfloor, back to the bird where Monty and Raven will have gotten themselves while we were grabbing Octavia, and we take off, clearing their atmosphere before the guards have wrangled the prisoners and have had time to call the feds.” They’re all silent.

“It’s not terrible.” Jasper says finally.

“Seems almost too easy, though.” Monty adds. “Something’ll go wrong.”

“Something always does.” Raven turns to Bellamy. “You think it’s solid?” 

Bellamy looks at Clarke. “I think we can handle it.” He says with finality in his tone.

“So the plan is to attack a whole planet, just the six of us,” Murphy gestures with his hand around the room, “get Octavia off death row and unmask a massive government conspiracy that we aren’t sure actually exists?”

Raven bites her lip to keep back a smile and Monty and Jasper both look to Bellamy.

“Yes.” He says with a peeved look on his face. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“Well then.” Murphy sighs. “Let’s do the right thing.” Clarke tries to keep her relief under control but her shoulders immediately sag and she can feel tension melting off of her.

“Monty, Raven, you take this,” Bellamy reaching for the communicator and then pausing looking at Clarke for permission, she nods so he pulls it off the table and hands it to Monty. “Look for anything extra we can use and figure out how you’re going to cut the power in the electrical system.”

“Jasper, help Murphy organize the guns, you don’t have any do you?” Bellamy looks at Clarke and she shakes her head. “Find some extras she can use.”

Bellamy waits until he can no longer hear Jasper and Murphy’s bickering before he turns to Clarke, gaze suddenly fierce. “You know that it would make more sense if we got Octavia first and then went to your father’s office. It’s the better plan” Clarke straightens her back.

“How would that make more sense?” She asks slowly.

“Either Monty and Raven release the prisoners immediately to make the distraction for us to get into the office and Octavia clears out from where she’s being held and it’s impossible to find her because she doesn’t know we’re coming for her, or, we go to the office first and Monty and Raven release the prisoners after, meaning there won’t be a distraction and the guards will have time to at best slow us down at worst stop us completely.” Bellamy’s gotten louder now, practically shouting at her. Clarke waits, staring off into the side until he quiets before she speaks.

“You’re right.” Bellamy huffs and crosses his arms. “Logically, you’re right. But there’s five of you. One of me. I need you to hold up your end of the deal first. You get me in my father’s office. I get you to Octavia. That was what we agreed on.” Bellamy clenches his jaw.

“Octavia’s there. She’s alive, we know she’s there, and we know she’s in trouble.” He says, speaking slowly as though he’s explaining it to a child. “You have no idea what’s waiting for you in your father’s office, you have no idea what you may or may not find. You say you need five minutes but if you don’t find anything in five minutes, it’ll become ten, then fifteen, and we’ll never get to her. Octavia’s the sure bet.” 

“She is.” Clarke looks at him evenly. “But it’s my plan.” He slams his open palm into the table but Clarke doesn’t move, holding his gaze.

“She’s my sister.” 

“If I find what I think I’m going to find…” Clarke trails off. “It’s going to mean so much more than you realize.” Bellamy scoffs. 

“Do you not realize that whatever central planet drama you think it is you’re going to uncover, nobody besides the central planets cares about it. The ARK’s influence doesn’t extend as far as you think.”

“You’ve got it the wrong way around, Bellamy.” Clarke shakes her head. “My father, one of the most well known people in the ‘verse, was executed because he didn’t agree with them. My mother,” her voice trembles, “executed him because he didn’t agree with them. Didn’t agree with her. The ARK is more influential than you could ever comprehend. The central planets...they control everything. The power difference between people on Arcadia and people on the outer rims...it’s so massive it’s impossible to articulate it properly.”

“You think it’s just the central planets against the outer rim?” Bellamy rubs his fingers into his temple. “I grew up on Arcadia, you know.” 

“No.” Clarke looks at him with disbelief and he smiles slightly.

“My mom she, she cleaned houses while Octavia and I were growing up. When I was seventeen, Octavia was fourteen, and our mom,” he coughs before continuing, “she died. Her boss gave me her job - I thought I’d be able to make enough to keep us going and maybe even start planning ahead, you know? Planning for a different future for us, or if not for us, at least for her.” Bellamy keeps his eyes focused on his hands which he has clasped in front of him on the table. “But it’s rigged. You make enough for the next week, never anything extra. My point is, even on the central planets, there’s the people that live in the mansions and the people that clean the mansions. You think they all have it the same because they’re not the outer rim, but Octavia ran off for the grounders for a reason, she belonged with them. Even if she was an Arcadia.”

“How’d you end up out here?” Clarke asks.

“When I was nineteen, this guy finds me, tells me he’ll give me fifty thousand credits if I can get him the access codes for one of the houses I work in. I didn’t even think about it, handed over the codes without a second thought.” Bellamy coughs and leans back in his chair. “He only robbed them and you know it didn’t occur to me until years later that he could’ve been planning on killing them and I just...never asked. Octavia and I talked about using the money for school but I’d already quit and she…” his mouth quirked, “she’ll be the first to admit she’s not the brightest when it comes to books. We grew up around ships though, a friend of an uncle or uncle of a friend something like that, he had a shipyard on Osiris. I quit the job, we hitched a ride out there and bought Icarus. Haven’t stopped since.”

“You’ll get her back.” Clarke promises. “Just because we’re going to the office first - it doesn’t mean we’re not getting her.” 

“If you say so, princess.” Bellamy swallows roughly and stands up.

+

When they’re only an hour out from Weather Clarke meets with Murphy again in the infirmary. 

“How’s it feeling?” She asks him unwrapping the gauze from his shoulder. 

“Can you not tell?” Clarke’s eyes flit to his as she dabs around the wound area. 

“You know you’re the one that has the most reason to like me.” She says pulling back and going over to the cabinets searching for something she can use as a sling. “After all I saved your life-”

“Debatable.” Murphy cuts in.

“And yet you’re the rudest.” Clarke finishes her sentence as though he hadn’t interrupted.

“That’s just who he is.” Raven says coming into the infirmary and leaning against the doorway.

“At least I’m more fun than the pilots.” Murphy retors before groaning as Clarke puts fresh antiseptic and gauze over the wound.

“I saw you were limping before.” Clarke says, turning back to glance at Raven. “Did you hurt your leg on Persephone?” She feels Murphy stiffen under her hands.

“I’m fine.” Raven says brusquely. “It’s an old wound, just acts up sometimes.”

“Doc, what’s the verdict?” Murphy asks, sounding impatient and Clarke turns back to him.

“Well you should be resting for a few weeks. That’s not going to happen, so I’ll just say, be conscious of it, try not to put too much weight or pressure on it. I can wrap it in a sling-”

“No.” Murphy cuts her off again and Clarke bites the inside of her cheek in annoyance. “I don’t need a sling. I could use a shot of morphine.”

“We’re not doing that.” Clarke says as Raven snickers in the back.”Just use your left arm as little as possible. And don’t get shot again.”

“I didn’t try to get shot the first time.” Murphy grumbles pulling his shirt back over his head.

“Bellamy wants you both in the cockpit, ready to go.” Raven says. “We’re almost there.” Murphy hops off the table grabbing his jacket off of the counter and pulling it over his shirt.

“I have to get something from the room, I’ll meet you both there.” Clarke says setting down the scissors and gauze and walking out of the infirmary.

“Are we allowed to let her be alone on the ship?” Murphy asks, watching her go.

“Probably not.” Raven knocks her shoulder against his and when he winces she grins. “Let’s get to the cockpit.”

They’re halfway down the bridge when the ship banks hard to the right, sending Raven into the steel wall of the ship and Murphy into Raven.

“Can I kill one of them?” Murphy asks, spitting out Raven’s hair from his mouth. “Just one, then we’ll have one who can still fly and I’ll feel better.” Raven groans and pushes him off her, limping the last few feet into the cockpit.

“What the hell was that?” She asks looking from Jasper and Monty who are both sitting in their respective pilots’ chairs, hands gripped tightly on their controllers.

“There’s an ARK cruiser above their atmosphere.” Monty responds not looking up at her. “We had to do an about face so they wouldn’t spot us.” Bellamy takes a step to look in the bridge as Murphy enters the cockpit.

“Clarke’s not with you?” He asks looking between the two. 

“Raven let her go alone.” Murphy says immediately. 

“She said she needed something from her bunk.” Bellamy gives Raven a look and she huffs before continuing. “Bellamy, we’re about to break into a prison together. Let the girl get something from her bunk.”

Before Bellamy can respond Clarke appears, notebook clutched tight in her hand.

“Sorry.” She says gasping a little from how quickly she was running. “I didn’t have the access code on me, the one we’ll need to get them to open the hangar.” Raven levels Bellamy with a gaze.

“It’s fine.” He says gruffly. “Give it to Jasper.” Clarke tears a page out of the notebook and hands it to Jasper who accepts it without looking at her. Clarke and Bellamy then take up position behind Jasper, staring insistently out the window. He glances up at them then back out the front view window. 

“Entering the atmosphere now.” Monty says. Raven, Murphy, and Bellamy all immediately grab on to something to help keep them steady and once Clarke realizes she grabs for something as well but it’s a beat too late and she trips, slamming into the wall. When she finally has her bearings they’re soaring through the sky of Weather unable to even see the ground due to the thick fog covering the planet. Clarke leans in closer over Jasper’s shoulder to try and pick out where the hangar might be but she can’t see anything. 

“We’re two minutes out.” Jasper says finally. He glances up at Bellamy and Clarke, both directly behind him. “I said that so you’d stop hovering.”

“Focus on the landing.” Bellamy says, eyes straight ahead.

A voice crackles over their communication system:

“Unidentified aircraft, we have you entering the atmosphere with no authorization on file. This is a class seven planet no unauthorized carriers allowed.” Jasper pulls the communicator off his dashboard and reaches for the paper Clarke had handed him.

“Weather base, we have a refueling license issued by Jake Griffin not set to expire for another year, requesting permission to land in your hangar.” Jasper reads out over the communicator.

“Unidentified aircraft, please recite your authorization code.”

“C94J3.”

“Authorization C94J3 you are set to land on dock three. Your license gives you a six hour window you are liable to all terms and fines of the ARK while you are on Weather.” The script of the words relaxes Clarke and she leans back, shoulder hitting Bellamy’s. 

“They bought it.” Clarke sighs in relief.

“Did you expect them not to?” Jasper asks her a frantic edge lilting his voice.

“I mean, I had fifty credits riding they wouldn’t.” Murphy raises his hand. 

“Who took that bet?” Monty asks looking up from the screens and Bellamy shrugs.

“If there isn’t an upside you’ve got to make one.” Jasper stops the ship and they wait hovering over the hangar. Bellamy straightens. “Okay. Cargo bay, let’s go. Monty, you land the bird.”

They regroup by the door of the ship and Murphy begins handing out guns by some criteria known only to him.

“Raven you’ve got the kill switch?” Bellamy asks, accepting a gun from Murphy and sticking it in the holster he keeps under his jacket. 

“Yep.” She takes a gun from Murphy. “Once we’re in the room it should take us less than five minutes to cut the power.” 

“Come on, goggles.” Murphy shouts, tossing a gun at Jasper as he comes down the stairs and even Bellamy is surprised when he catches it. The ship jerks suddenly as it lands and then a loud sound echoes around the ship. 

“They’re cleaning the fog off the ship.” Clarke yells over it and a second later it’s quiet again and the ship picks up, only for a minute before it parks. A minute later Monty comes running down into the cargo bay. 

“Landing gear locked.” He says gasping for air. “We’re good.” Murphy claps him on the back and hands him a gun which he accepts reluctantly. Murphy and Bellamy step forward to the door and everyone pushes against the wall as Raven hits the button to open the airlock. The gangway clangs down on the metal floor of the hangar and Bellamy and Murphy dart their heads out scanning the area.

“Four other birds, about ten people. Enough for you to blend in. At least for a minute.” Bellamy says pulling back in. Raven leans forward, looking out. 

“The door to the electrics is ten feet.” She pulls her head back in looking at Monty. 

“They haven’t noticed we’re not meant to be here yet.” Jasper says.

“They will.” Clarke looks at Raven and Monty. “Casual as you can.” She says. “They’ll notice you aren’t supposed to be here, but don’t help them notice.” Raven and Monty inch closer to the door. 

“Fast and careful.” Bellamy says looking between the two. “You cut the power and you get back here. Stay on comms and cover each other.” Monty and Raven are out the door before anyone says anything further. Clarke kneels down, as close to the floor as she can manage, hiding behind the airlock and peaking her head out. Monty and Raven make it two feet before someone in a guard uniform notices them. They make it another foot before he shouts at them. After that another guard looks over, Clarke sees him look at them, then look at the ship, and when she sees his look of recognition at the Icarus mural painted on the side of the ship she knows they’re screwed. 

By the time she’s aimed her gun Murphy and Bellamy have taken out two guards and Raven and Monty are running for the electrics room. When they make it inside Bellamy, Murphy, Jasper, and Clarke, leave the ship for the now empty hangar.

“Bellamy!” Monty’s voice comes over the comms feed. “We’ll have the electricity cut in two minutes but there’s chatter - feds are five minutes out.” Bellamy swears.

“Octavia first. Through there.” Clarke says, looking away from them towards a door against the hangar. Bellamy stares at her and she glances at him, nodding briefly.

“Lead the way, princess.” Bellamy’s barely finished the sentence before Clarke is running off, leading them along the wall of the hangar towards a door. She takes them through a complicated route of turns and staircases as they descend into the bunker. It’s just the four of them until they exit the stairwell. 

“Hey, what are you - “ Someone shouts from behind them but before they can finish their sentence Murphy fires his gun and the guy hits the ground.

“Thought we weren’t aiming to kill.” Jasper says gasping for breath as they run, glancing from Murphy towards Bellamy.

“I only hit his leg.” Murphy defends.

“Hurry up.” Bellamy yells and when they glance at him they realize how far they’ve lagged behind. As they jog to catch up, red emergency lights begin flashing in the hallway.

A bullet whizzes past Clarke and a guard she hadn’t seen approaching falls to the ground, she whips her head back to see Bellamy lowering his gun.

“Power’s cut.” Raven’s voice sounds over comms. None of them respond and Clarke pushes through a heavy metal door into an atrium of complete and total chaos. There are bullets flying and masses of people in uniforms running. 

“Octavia!” Bellamy shouts pushing past Clarke into the atrium. “Octavia!” He runs down towards the rows of open cells, Murphy hangs back by the door and Jasper and Clarke scatter down different sections, all of them shouting Octavia’s name. It feels like an hour but can only be a few minutes before Bellamy shouts.

“I found her!” Clarke doubles back to where he is. She finds him and Jasper in the same cell leaning over Octavia who’s lying on the bed. Clarke kneels next to the bed and leans over to take her pulse, before putting her ear over her mouth.

“Octavia? O?” Bellamy repeats reaching forward and running his hands through her hair. 

“What’s...” Octavia mumbles and Clarke pulls up her eyelid. 

“She’s doped.” Clarke says moving back, Bellamy leans down to pick her up in his arms and Clarke hovers after him.

“Let’s go.” Bellamy says. 

“Jasper you cover him.” Clarke orders, gesturing with her gun to Bellamy and leading them back through the crowd of prisoners and guards. When they enter the stairwell the shock of the quiet only lasts a few seconds before loud alarms start pulsing through the building. “The generators are on!” She yells back behind her as she races up the stairs, Murphy directly behind her, Bellamy and Jasper lagging back. They make it to the main floor and just as Clarke’s about to open the door Murphy puts his hand over hers on the handle. 

“Me first.” He says and before she can protest he pushes past her into the hall she hears two gunshots and then Murphy opens the door pulling her out and holding it open for Bellamy and Jasper who have just made it upstairs. Bellamy is breathing heavily, Octavia weighing him down, but Clarke doesn’t look back at him as she goes down the hallway that leads to her father’s office. “Here it is.” She doesn’t open the door so much as crash through it.

“Murphy, watch the door.” Bellamy says and Murphy nods. Bellamy sets Octavia on the ground, sitting on her the ground with her back against the wall.

“Octavia.” He whispers, slapping her face lightly. “Octavia.” She moans quietly and blinks her eyes but doesn’t wake up. Bellamy stands with one more look at her and turns to face Jasper and Clarke, standing behind her father’s desk. Clarke pulls off the necklace she’d been wearing and starts tugging at it insistently. 

“What are you doing?” Jasper asks confused but Clarke doesn’t answer, tugging at the necklace again and suddenly the silver breaks in half, revealing a flash drive which she plugs into the side of the computer.

“Your dad didn’t leave you a message, you say?” Bellamy says and Clarke glances up at him and doesn’t say anything but he sees the ghost of a smile on her face. 

“Was it geo-tagged?” Jasper asks, watching the screen as Clarke impatiently clicks open the files.

“I’ve tried everything else this is all that makes sense I just have to unlock it here and then everything else - “ Clarke’s frustrated rant is cut off as the printer behind her whirls to life and she turns to face it, pulling expectantly at every page that it lets go. From where Bellamy’s standing he can see charts, graphs, rows of numbers, the pages keep coming and Clarke keeps reaching for them desperately, eyes scanning as fast as she can.

“None of this makes sense.” She says dropping the stack she had been holding on her father’s old desk and reaching for another page from the printer. “They’re geological reports but they’re all - they’re all wrong,” she pulls one up to her eyes so close Bellamy has no idea how she can read it, “the oxygen levels reported here make no sense.” 

“Feds have landed in the secondary hangar.” Monty’s voice crackles over the comms. “They’re pushing through the prison, guards are starting to rope everyone up, you don’t have much longer.”

Clarke ignores the message, pulling at more paper coming out of the printer and Jasper leans over to look at the papers spread across the desk. He traces his finger across a row of numbers, then to a graph, then back to a row of numbers. 

“It’s a prediction model,” he says slowly, switching the papers around, “it’s showing how the oxygen levels will drop. The oxygen’s dropping,” he pauses, “but it looks like the nitrogen and the hydrogen are growing...they’re accelerating at - these are impossible rates of acceleration this can’t be right, Monty has to look at this.”

“Is the terraform failing?” Murphy asks, back against the doorframe and gaze still steadily fixed onto the hallway from which they’d come. 

“That doesn’t make sense.” Jasper says shaking his head. “It’s happening too fast, and not just on one planet...Capua, Sinuessa, Abydos...even Polis.” He reaches around Clarke to pull the remainder of the papers from the printer. “If terraforming failed - it takes practically a century to terraform the processes wouldn’t fail in less than a year.”

“Unless it’s not a failure,” Clarke’s eyes snap to Bellamy’s. “For it to happen on Capua, Sinuessa, Abydos, Polis...” 

“It’s the outer rim.” Bellamy says eyes fixed just as firmly on her.

“The terraform processes aren’t failing, they're reversing them.” Clarke says.

“That’d force everyone off the sparser planets,” Bellamy begins, “they’d be pushed in closer - “ 

“Closer to Arcadia, Phoenix,” Clarke finishes his thought, “closer to the planets that are easier to control, easier to keep track of. The grounders are based on Polis, Capua’s legal system is basically nonexistent, Sinuessa is a transit hub for the outer rim and Abydos - “

“Abydos has the most natural resources of any planet in the ARK.” Bellamy finishes. “And with it being in the outer rim it’s basically grounder territory.”

“Reverse a terraform that’d still take what, decades?” Clarke asks Jasper but she’s looking at Bellamy.

“Less than that.” Jasper answers. “If you sent in a couple engineers who know what they’re doing, you could have it uninhabitable in a couple years. But - “ he shakes his head, “but there’s no way someone would do that, even the ARK, the casualties would be immeasurable. We’re talking about four planets, that’s, that’s millions of people.” 

“You’d win a war with only a few soldiers a planet.” Bellamy says.

“It’s smart.” Clarke admits. “It’s barbaric but - it’s smart.”

“Your dad was going to tell people.” Jasper says looking at her. “You said he worked on terraforming, he knew, he was going to tell people.”

“Incoming!” Murphy shouts there’s gunfire and then he pulls a grenade from his pocket, pulls the pin and rolls it down the hall. “We need to go!” Clarke pulls the flashdrive from the computer and shoves it in her pocket as Bellamy leans down to grab Octavia off the ground.

Clarke reads them down the hallway towards the hanger, through one set of doors and then another but in the last section before they reach the hangar they’re intercepted by guards. Jasper, Murphy, and Clarke shoot blindly and by the time the area is cleared they can hear more feds approaching from behind them. They push through the last doorway and Murphy tosses a grenade in the hallway, pulling the doors shut and Jasper and Clarke trip over themselves shoving one of the filing cabinets that line the hallway against the door to block it.

“Airborne feds, five minutes out.” Monty’s voice comes over comms once more sounding more panicked than he has before. Murphy kneels down and uses his last grenade to trip the entryway to the hallway.

“Jasper!” Bellamy orders and the pilot appears at his arm and Bellamy puts Octavia down on the ground. 

“Bell...” She opens her eyes and her voice sounds stronger but she still stumbles so Jasper pulls her arm over his shoulder. Bellamy helps Murphy pull another filing cabinet into the center of the hallway to create a barricade. Clarke turns to Jasper and pulls the flashdrive out of her pocket, pressing it into his hand. 

“What are you - “

“You, Raven, Monty, get this on the cortex. Put it everywhere, every planet, every person, do whatever you have to.” Clarke orders.

“Clarke - “ Jasper says

She ignores him and pulls up her communicator. “Raven! They’re coming for you. You need to cover from the airlock.” She pushes at Jasper, “Go!” She says to him and he heads down the hallway. “Murphy!” She shouts and jerks her head towards Jasper. He understands her silent message and follows them down the hall.

“This door is gonna bottleneck them.” Clarke says leaning down and picking up the gun that Jasper had dropped when Bellamy pushed Octavia on him and shoving it in the back of her waistband. “I can keep them back in this hallway. It’s only ten feet to the ship through the hangar. Murphy’s a good shot, Raven’s a decent one, you three should be able to cover for takeoff. Jasper and Monty will lose them as soon as you're airborne.” As she speaks she’s backing off down the hallway, pushing everything that isn’t bolted down towards the door, to try and form some sort of obstacle course that’ll slow the feds. She’s so focused on her desperate task she doesn’t realize Bellamy hasn’t left his spot at the door.

“Murphy’s a great shot, Raven’s a good one. They can cover the takeoff without me.” He leans around her to where Murphy and Jasper are waiting by the end of the hallway. “Go!” Clarke’s heard him give orders before but nothing compares to the hardness in his voice right now and Murphy and Jasper obey without a moment’s pause.

“Bellamy -“

“There’ll be less to cover if we’re both here.” He says not looking at her and pulling another filing cabinet to widen the makeshift barricade he and Murphy had made. Gunfire begins as the feds try to shoot through the door and he hops over the filing cabinet so that both he and Clarke are on the floor, their backs against the filing cabinet as the noise grows louder.

“They’re not going to kill me if they don’t have to.” She says insistently. “I’m the only one they're trying not to kill, that’s why I’m staying.”

“Thought your mom was a diplomat.” Clarke’s head snaps to look at him when she hears his joking tone. “You never picked up any negotiating skills?” He bites at the inside of his cheek to prevent a smile and Clarke laughs, letting hers grow on her face without any shame.

“Are you trying to flirt with me?” 

“You can call it that if we make it through this.” Clarke’s finger drops off the trigger of her gun. “They’ll get off the planet.” Bellamy says his eyes holding hers steadily. “Octavia will be fine and Monty and Raven will beam that message all the way to Arcadia before we even break a sweat.” Clarke sticks her hand out like they were going to arm wrestle.

“We go down together.” She says firmly. Bellamy mimics her pose, grabbing her hand roughly.

“Or,” He grins wryly, “we don’t go down at all.” 

The grenade Murphy had laced at the doorway explodes.

**Author's Note:**

> a few points: I wrote the first draft of this in 2014 which is why it’s very s1 instead of swhateveritisnow. I know the timeline is a bit rushed but lbr so was the plot of serenity. I haven’t done an au like this before so i hope everything was clear...also haven't written fic in like 6 yrs so. this is a oneshot because i never complete WIPs but i do have other ideas for this verse so we shall see how life progresses. 
> 
> thanks for reading...nice to know other people exist in quarantine...


End file.
